Car won't start after sitting for 7 days

12682 Views 50 Replies 19 Participants Last post by Ein, 16 d ago

MiliMasDes

Discussion Starter · Feb 1, 2021

I bought my HR-V 2020 Sport in October and I've already had to jump start it twice. Each time was after not using it for what I consider to be a reasonable amount of days : 1st time I hadn't used it for 11 days, the 2nd time I hadn't used it for 7 days.
The car dealer tells me it's normal, it's due to the accessories and electronics draining the battery and they recommend driving my car at least twice a week for 30min, but I find this to be exaggerated. I should be able to leave on vacation for a week (after Covid), come back and be able to start my car!
Have anybody left their HR-V sitting for over a week and if so did you have an issue starting it? Is this wide spread amoung all HR-V or is it just my car?

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Carbuff2

· #2 · Feb 1, 2021

Lots written about this 'need' on new cars (not just HR-V or Hondas). ESPECIALLY since the pandemic began.

The dealer is correct (to a point) about the need to drive at least 30 minutes (IMO once a week is enough). This assures that the battery is fully charged during the car's inactivity.

Another thing that helps charge the battery (fully) is to drive with your lights on (or the interior fan on HIGH), especially if you do shorter trips. The car senses this and will provide full current to the battery. (Normally, the electronics saves gas, by 'running off the battery' on and off.)

It doesn't help that many cars are fitted with the smallest size of battery these days, to save weight and increase MPG.

MiliMasDes said:
I should be able to leave on vacation for a week (after Covid), come back and be able to start my car!

Aside from the above tips, you can do a couple things to assure that you are not stuck:

1. If your car is stored inside, you could attach a Battery Maintainer that will keep the battery fully charged without overcharging it. CTEK 5.0 is one trusted brand/model, but Harbor Freight sells workable units for a lot less.

2. If you leave your car at an area that is not as secure (IE, airport parking lot) you could keep a little lithium-ion battery jumper in your HR-V. NOCO brand is well known, but again there are others.

Once your battery is fully charged, check its state of health either with a meter or at an autoparts store (they usually do that for free). If it is found to be weak, you should be able to get a new battery under warranty for a year,from Honda.

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MiliMasDes

Discussion Starter · #3 · Feb 1, 2021

Carbuff2 said:
Lots written about this 'need' on new cars (not just HR-V or Hondas). ESPECIALLY since the pandemic began.

The dealer is correct (to a point) about the need to drive at least 30 minutes (IMO once a week is enough). This assures that the battery is fully charged during the car's inactivity.

Another thing that helps charge the battery (fully) is to drive with your lights on (or the interior fan on HIGH), especially if you do shorter trips. The car senses this and will provide full current to the battery. (Normally, the electronics saves gas, by 'running off the battery' on and off.)

It doesn't help that many cars are fitted with the smallest size of battery these days, to save weight and increase MPG.

Aside from the above tips, you can do a couple things to assure that you are not stuck:

1. If your car is stored inside, you could attach a Battery Maintainer that will keep the battery fully charged without overcharging it. CTEK 5.0 is one trusted brand/model, but Harbor Freight sells workable units for a lot less.

2. If you leave your car at an area that is not as secure (IE, airport parking lot) you could keep a little lithium-ion battery jumper in your HR-V. NOCO brand is well known, but again there are others.

Once your battery is fully charged, check its state of health either with a meter or at an autoparts store (they usually do that for free). If it is found to be weak, you should be able to get a new battery under warranty for a year,from Honda.

Thanks for your reply!
You suggested to drive it for 30min once a week. 7 days prior to it not starting I had driven it for 25-30min and the day before that for 45 min, then I didn't drive it for 7 days and it won't start so isn't there a problem? Shouldn't the car dealer bring it in for inspection?
My car is parked outside in an alley so the battery maintainer is not an option and I did purchase the Noco battery jumper but I don't intend to use it unless I'm in a rush - I would rather call Honda's roadside assistance which I have for free until 2023 so that they have it on record how many times I've had to jump start it.
That said, I'm not really looking for fixes. What I want to know is should I accept that this is "normal" as my car dealer says or should I insist that they fix my car? I've had it for 3 months, 800km, so it's still fully under warranty.

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Carbuff2

· #4 · Feb 1, 2021

MiliMasDes said:
What I want to know is should I accept that this is "normal" as my car dealer says or should I insist that they fix my car? I've had it for 3 months, 800km, so it's still fully under warranty.

I think you would be justified having the dealer check the charging system (battery and alternator). If the car was sitting on the lot (being moved around for a minute at a time) or was in stock for a long period before purchase, the battery may be weak. It's happened.
What is the Build Date on the sticker in the drivers door opening?

You record of Honda Roadside Assistance help should be proof that investigation is needed!

EDIT: In the CR-V and Fit forums, there are many topics about fitting larger batteries...

Ein

· #5 · Feb 1, 2021

MiliMasDes said:
My car is parked outside in an alley so the battery maintainer is not an option and I did purchase the Noco battery jumper but I don't intend to use it unless I'm in a rush

Could try a solar battery maintainer?

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spacewrangler

· #6 · Feb 2, 2021

I've never had this issue, my HR-V has sat 3+ weeks a few times.

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MiliMasDes

Discussion Starter · #7 · Feb 2, 2021

spacewrangler said:
I've never had this issue, my HR-V has sat 3+ weeks a few times.

Can I ask you what year and model you have?

spacewrangler

· #8 · Feb 2, 2021

MiliMasDes said:
Can I ask you what year and model you have?

I had an 18, traded for a 19. No problems with either. The factory battery on these cars are notoriously of poor quality. I have a battery tester and check mine often.

Hadleys Taxi

· #9 · Feb 2, 2021

You could ask the dealership to swap your battery over to see if that makes a difference. It's not unknown for items to fail from the factory. My last vehicle was a factory order and was delivered with a failed Dual Mass Flywheel.

If your vehicle was already in stock, it may be worth getting the VIN checked to see when it was produced. If it was a fair bit before you purchased it, it may explain why the battery's playing up.

I didn't drive my vehicle for around a week or so over Xmas or early January, and it fired up first time without hesitation and that's with temperatures as low as -7°C.

The main issue with my battery is the Idle Start/Stop has not worked since early November.

CalgaryHRV

· #10 · Feb 3, 2021

MiliMasDes said:
I bought my HR-V 2020 Sport in October and I've already had to jump start it twice. Each time was after not using it for what I consider to be a reasonable amount of days : 1st time I hadn't used it for 11 days, the 2nd time I hadn't used it for 7 days.
The car dealer tells me it's normal, it's due to the accessories and electronics draining the battery and they recommend driving my car at least twice a week for 30min, but I find this to be exaggerated. I should be able to leave on vacation for a week (after Covid), come back and be able to start my car!
Have anybody left their HR-V sitting for over a week and if so did you have an issue starting it? Is this wide spread amoung all HR-V or is it just my car?

Battery issues are all too common for the HRV but it's not normal nor should the HRV battery be dead after sitting only a week.
The dealer is giving you the run-around. The battery should be fully charged and then load tested by the dealer.
The HRV does not have a lot of electronics, another excuse by the dealer. There should be no need to drive it once a week to keep the battery charged.
Even if you live in a cold climate.

The HRV factory battery is small. Yours is now likely weak, at end of life and needs to be replaced.
For your 2020 HRV, the battery could be approaching 2 years old.

A search on this forum will bring up a ton of HRV battery issues.
Here is one thread that links to other threads for more info and discussion:

www.hrvforum.com

Computer Sucking The Life Out Of My Hrv?

Hello, I apologize for the length of this but I really need HELP! I bought my HRV in March 2020, it has the push start ignition. Being laid off since Dec 2019, we decided to go down to one vehicle with little money coming into the house. As you can all relate we drive very little now, only go...

www.hrvforum.com

www.hrvforum.com

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Ron92646

· #11 · Feb 4, 2021

Since covid and now working from home my 2019 hrv lx 2wd has sat at times for 8-10 days without starting it and I've never had a problem.

Reactions: 2

mcenira

· #12 · Feb 4, 2021

MiliMasDes said:
I bought my HR-V 2020 Sport in October and I've already had to jump start it twice. Each time was after not using it for what I consider to be a reasonable amount of days : 1st time I hadn't used it for 11 days, the 2nd time I hadn't used it for 7 days.
The car dealer tells me it's normal, it's due to the accessories and electronics draining the battery and they recommend driving my car at least twice a week for 30min, but I find this to be exaggerated. I should be able to leave on vacation for a week (after Covid), come back and be able to start my car!
Have anybody left their HR-V sitting for over a week and if so did you have an issue starting it? Is this wide spread amoung all HR-V or is it just my car?

What you describe is not normal. I have a 2020 CRV that sits for days/weeks without use and always starts and a 2021 HRV that has sat close to a week and always starts. Look at the lot of your typical Honda dealership with several hundred cars - you know most sit for weeks on end without being started and work just fine. Sure, the new electronic systems tax your battery, but not enough to kill it in a week or two. I’d take it back and request a warranty repair/replacement, if for no other reason than to get the issue in the system for any future problems that may arise.

Reactions: 3

AnbuBlackOPS

· #13 · Feb 4, 2021

I have experienced this with my HRV that I bought new back in 2017. Your suspicious are correct. It's a great vehicle that lasts but the electrical problem pertaining to what you're having issues with will continue to pop up. A word of advice as well, please make sure to put a high quality heat wrap around the housing of the starter motor. As the vehicle accumulates miles no matter how many starters that I had replaced, the same no-start single click scenario would happen. Why? Because the folks at Honda thought that putting a starter less than a foot above the exhaust manifold pipe that heats up to well over 500 degrees F. After I had installed a high quality heat shield wrap around the starter housing and then had taken a CPU aluminum heatsink and installed that directly mounted under and against the exhaust manifold, my starter failure went away. The CPU aluminum heatsink was just an extra touch but the concept is that as the car is moving the cool air will aggressively strike the CPU heatsink, thus allowing the aluminium fins on the heatsink to cool quickly and transfer cooling onto the surface of the exhaust manifold. It works well and nobody can see it. I'm currently at 178,000 miles and it still runs like a dream. Except of course for the intermittent no-start-single-click scenario that pops up from time to time. My solution is to install a solar panel with a charge controller that will not drain the battery. That's my current course of action soon. I don't know if you will be able to click my profile, but if you can, then you might be able to see a more elaborate statement that I had made to another person a few months ago about a similar issue.

MiliMasDes said:
I bought my HR-V 2020 Sport in October and I've already had to jump start it twice. Each time was after not using it for what I consider to be a reasonable amount of days : 1st time I hadn't used it for 11 days, the 2nd time I hadn't used it for 7 days.
The car dealer tells me it's normal, it's due to the accessories and electronics draining the battery and they recommend driving my car at least twice a week for 30min, but I find this to be exaggerated. I should be able to leave on vacation for a week (after Covid), come back and be able to start my car!
Have anybody left their HR-V sitting for over a week and if so did you have an issue starting it? Is this wide spread amoung all HR-V or is it just my car?

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tal99

· #14 · Feb 14, 2021

Since the pandemic started I do not drive my car a lot. When winter hit I tried to make an effort to drive it to ensure the battery remained okay as it is quite cold outside. I did not drive my car (2019 HR-V with less than 16,000km on it) for almost 3 weeks went to go out and the battery had died. I figured this was completely my fault I had not driven it. Got it jumped, let the battery charge drove it a lot. Battery is now back to full health. I set a reminder to ensure I drive it weekly, get my weekly reminder and the battery is dead again. At this point the battery died twice in one month.

It sits in the garage and I now have it on a trickle charger but I do not believe a virtually brand new Honda HR-V should be having these problems when not driving the car for a few weeks. I think I should bring it into Honda but everyone is saying this is normal. I had a 2005 Honda CR-V for 10 years and never had problems like this. Anyone have advise if they think this is a problem?

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CalgaryHRV

· #15 · Feb 14, 2021

Man, I wish Honda would put a larger battery in the HRV and re-program the alternator charging strategy.

Einz (moderator) may have to start merging all the battery threads.

Here is a link to another battery thread, with links to other threads which may help with your HRV battery issue.

www.hrvforum.com

Car won't start after sitting for 7 days

I bought my HR-V 2020 Sport in October and I've already had to jump start it twice. Each time was after not using it for what I consider to be a reasonable amount of days : 1st time I hadn't used it for 11 days, the 2nd time I hadn't used it for 7 days. The car dealer tells me it's normal, it's...

www.hrvforum.com

www.hrvforum.com

Reactions: 1

Char

· #16 · Mar 2, 2021

MiliMasDes said:
I bought my HR-V 2020 Sport in October and I've already had to jump start it twice. Each time was after not using it for what I consider to be a reasonable amount of days : 1st time I hadn't used it for 11 days, the 2nd time I hadn't used it for 7 days.
The car dealer tells me it's normal, it's due to the accessories and electronics draining the battery and they recommend driving my car at least twice a week for 30min, but I find this to be exaggerated. I should be able to leave on vacation for a week (after Covid), come back and be able to start my car!
Have anybody left their HR-V sitting for over a week and if so did you have an issue starting it? Is this wide spread amoung all HR-V or is it just my car?

My 2016 is in the honda shop as I am typing this...was gone for 3 weeks and wouldn't start...a friend gave me a jump start...going on my 3 battery now with only 35662 I on it

Reactions: 1

AnbuBlackOPS

· #17 · Mar 22, 2021

tal99 said:
Since the pandemic started I do not drive my car a lot. When winter hit I tried to make an effort to drive it to ensure the battery remained okay as it is quite cold outside. I did not drive my car (2019 HR-V with less than 16,000km on it) for almost 3 weeks went to go out and the battery had died. I figured this was completely my fault I had not driven it. Got it jumped, let the battery charge drove it a lot. Battery is now back to full health. I set a reminder to ensure I drive it weekly, get my weekly reminder and the battery is dead again. At this point the battery died twice in one month.

It sits in the garage and I now have it on a trickle charger but I do not believe a virtually brand new Honda HR-V should be having these problems when not driving the car for a few weeks. I think I should bring it into Honda but everyone is saying this is normal. I had a 2005 Honda CR-V for 10 years and never had problems like this. Anyone have advise if they think this is a problem?

My advice is to let everyone know how unreliable and poor quality that Honda's electrical systems are. None of what you stated is your fault.

cloudwalker

· #18 · Mar 23, 2021

I don't drive my HR-V much since I am retired. I am well aware off their undersize battery and all of electronics and use one periodically and have no problems. There are some good and cheap battery tenders available now
. It is worth the trouble to use one once in a while. If Honda knew about this problem, they should put them built into these cars.

CalgaryHRV

· #19 · Mar 24, 2021 (Edited)

I think it would be beyond annoying to have to use a battery tender on a regular basis.

How about the folks that park in the street with no electrical outlet nearby?
How about if you are parked at a cold ski hill all day?
What about having your wife or kids stranded with a dead HRV battery?

I don't think Honda is going to ever authorize a larger battery for the current HRV.
What I think Honda could do, given enough complaints about the HRV battery issues, is to provide updated ECM programming that will constantly charge the battery at full voltage (14V+) rather than stepping it down to 12.5V as it currently does.
This would help the small HRV battery start the engine after it has sat for a while.

There may be a way to fool/force the ECM into charging the battery at full voltage.
Modify/disable the module on the negative post of the HRV battery? Not sure.

In the meantime, I think the best solution for the HRV is to install a larger capacity battery.
Unfortunately the options for installing a larger battery in an HRV are not great.

The larger battery in our HRV has been flawless this Canadian winter but it's only been about 5 months.
The previous small, original sized 51R battery in our HRV lasted about a year without issue.

Using a battery tender on a regular basis or driving your HRV 40miles every day or replacing the battery every year or carrying around a battery pack are not suitable options IMO.

If anyone has a better solution, let us know!

Perhaps the new 2022 HRV will have the lame start/stop feature which will require a larger battery and a better quality starter?

Edit: Typo, 51R not 56R battery...

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TwoWheelsDown

· #20 · Mar 24, 2021

CalgaryHRV said:
I don't think Honda is going to ever authorize a larger battery for the current HRV.

The group size 51R battery has been around since at least the early 90's in Hondas, and I don't think it's going away any time soon. Sucks because modern cars have a lot more electronic components than they did back then!

CalgaryHRV said:
There may be a way to fool/force the ECM into charging the battery at full voltage.

I'll have to ask the engine guy on our team for specifics, but on one of our race cars (90-something Civic), he cut one of the signal wires on the alternator. With that wire cut, the alternator gave full output constantly, but we got a charging system fault error.

To fix that, he connected the end of the wire going to the ECM to a constant 5.0v or something. That told the ECM that the battery was fully-charged and to turn the alternator to low output.

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